Post-Punk
Peter Hook to Stream Concert Film Featuring Joy Division’s Entire Catalog
This year marks both the 40th anniversary of Joy Division’s final album, Closer, and the death of late frontman Ian Curtis. The band’s surviving members are commemorating in a number of ways, including a vinyl reissue of the former and a tribute livestream event for the latter. Now we can add a new concert film to that list, as Peter Hook & The Light have announced a stream of the previously unreleased So This Is Permanent. The film captures an exclusive, 500-capacity show that Peter Hook & The Light’s played at Christ Church in Macclesfield, England, Curtis’ hometown in 2015. The special gig saw the the band run through Joy Division’s entire catalog to celebrate what was then the group’s 35th anniversary. Technically, three tracks were released from this show prior to now, but the...
Joy Division’s Closer to Receive 40th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue
In celebration of its 40th anniversary, Joy Division’s Closer is receiving a fresh vinyl reissue. What’s more, a trio of non-album singles — “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, “Transmission”, and “Atmosphere” — will also be re-released as newly remastered 12-inches. Pressed to clear vinyl and available on streaming services, the reissue of the band’s second and final album is due out on July 17th. The 12-inch singles will drop the same day, marking the first time the three tracks have been repressed since Joy Division’s label, Factory Records, shuttered in 1992. Each will be backed by its original B-side: “Transmission” b/w “Novelty”, “Love Will Tear Us Apart” b/w “These Days”, and “Atmosphere” b/w “She’s Lost Control”. Editors’ Picks All the reissues are available for pre-order as a bundle ...
Peter Hook on 40 Years Without Ian Curtis, Working with Gorillaz, and Keeping the Party Going
“The best thing you can do in life is stick on that smile and get out there and enjoy as much as you possibly can,” Peter Hook says over our lunch on Skype. “Because as we’ve seen from the way that you’ve suffered in America — the way that we’ve suffered here in the UK — time can be very short. You don’t know what’s around the corner do you?” With the utmost tragic timing, an alert flashes on my iPhone screen, informing me of the death of Kraftwerk legend Florian Schneider, who I learn has passed away from his battle with cancer. Absolutely destroyed, I tell Hook, who reflects, “There you go Phillip. A prime example isn’t it? Life can be very short. Too short … and not filled with harmony…” Hook knows a thing or two about harmony, both off stage and on it. The veteran musician, who laid do...
Jehnny Beth Shares New Song “Heroine”: Stream
Jehnny Beth’s debut solo album, To Love Is to Live, sounds like it will be a heavy affair. Early singles have all been various levels of intense, from the sensual pulse of “Flower”, to the ominous stalk of “Innocence”, to the thunderous spasms of “I’m the Man”. However, the album’s latest preview, “Heroine”, brings a more melodic air to the affair. To be fair, the Savages singer hasn’t taken her foot off the post-punk pedal for this one — not at all. But with warped jazz horns and undulating baking vocals swirling together over propellant drums, there’s a more hypnotic thrust here. It’s coupled with lyrics that, as Beth explained in a press release, owe a lot to the galvanizing of her collaborators: “When I think of this song, I think of Romy from the xx strangling my neck with her hands i...
Fontaines D.C. Announce New Album, Share “A Hero’s Death”: Stream
Fontaines D.C. will let loose their sophomore album, A Hero’s Death, on July 31st through Partisan Records. As a preview of the follow-up to 2019’s warmly received Dogrel, the post-punk outfit has today unveiled the album’s title track. The forthcoming collection spans a total of 11 songs, produced by Dogrel collaborator Dan Carey (black midi, Bat for Lashes) in his London studio. Whereas the Dublin group’s debut LP bristled with rambunctious and undeterred post-punk, A Hero’s Death is described as a more restrained affair, one that puts an emphasis on patient “spectral balladry.” To tap into this kind of energy during the songwriting process, Fontaines D.C. found inspiration in Leonard Cohen and The Beach Boys, as well as contemporaries like Beach House. The new album is sa...
Wire Change Share New Single “The Art of Persistence”: Stream
Wire were all set to drop their 18th studio album 10:20 on Record Store Day. But with that particular holiday delayed and practicing social distancing, the post-punk rockers have now announced that 10:20 will instead be available on all platforms on June 19th. To tide fans over until then, Wire has shared the nearly new song “The Art of Persistence”. Like most of the “strays” being collected on 10:20, “The Art of Persistence” has been around in one form or another for a number of years. It first popped up when the band reconvened in 2000, and made appearances on The Third Day EP (labelled as a “First Draft”) and then as a live performance on Recycling Sherwood Forest as part of Wire’s Legal Bootleg series. Musically, “The Art of Persistence” is a thr...
